Page 21 of The Aftermath

“I’ve been here. I don’t know where the fuck you’ve been,” I tell him.

“Out and about. What’s going on? Why are you here now?” he asks, a little confused since we usually come around when they have fresh meat that needs to be killed.

“I was looking for Hunter.”

“He’s not here. He went out on a hunt,” he replies with a grin. Fuck. I needed to talk to him, but maybe Hoax can help.

“What do you know about the mayor?”

“That he’s a sick piece of shit.”

“What do you mean?”

“From what I know about him, he’s into little girls. Not so much small kids, but girls just under legal age.” Fuck. He’s sicker than I thought he was.

“How do you know all this?”

“Dealt with him a few times before. I wanted to make him disappear, but Hunter shot that down.”

“Why?”

“He uses him for information. Not all of the girls he’s after are trafficked, but there’s been a few who have led us back to that.” I run my hand through my hair because now I’m going to have to get in the middle of Hunter’s business. “What’s this about?”

I glance around, but I don’t see anyone, and I know Hoax won’t say shit.

“I made a deal with Matt. I have to get rid of the mayor, but I need to find out who in the Kings is leaking him information first,” I admit to him.

“I’m going to say something you’re not going to like, Silas.”

“Which is?”

“Your dad has a lot of dealings with the mayor.”

“What do you mean dealings?” Now I’m intrigued. I wonder what the hell that means and if its possible it’s my dad who’s leaking information to him. I wouldn’t put it past him. I wouldn’t put it past any of the leaders because they’re all twisted and fucked in some way. They aren’t what the Kings were supposed to be. Not if what we’ve always been told about the Kings is the truth. We’re supposed to be united as one, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The leaders are all out for themselves and that’s just how it is now.

“It’s your dad, man. I shouldn’t be telling you this,” Hoax says, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“It’s all good, Hoax. It goes no further than here.” He nods his head, knowing I wouldn’t do that shit to him. We’re all too close, like brothers.

“You know the chain stores your dad started up? Well, those weren’t accepted by the city. Your dad had to find a way around that in order to keep money coming in, right? So, who do you think fixed all that for him?”

“The mayor. At what cost?”

“That’s where things get uncomfortable, Silas.”

“What do you mean? Just tell me,” I snap, trying to get him to spit it out.

“Fuck. The mayor, Ron, got his hands on one of the princesses years ago. No one knows who it was. We can’t figure it out. He was promised he would get her once it was time for the ceremony.”

“That makes no sense. How did you find this out?”

“There were records of the discussion. A recording someone somehow got. I don’t know everything behind it or all the details, but I heard it. No names were mentioned.”

“And you haven’t been able to figure out which girl it was?” Hoax shakes his head, looking pissed at the thought of not finding out. “Why didn’t Hunter just kill his ass?”

“He wanted to. It took a lot for him to let that motherfucker live, but the more he reasoned it out, the more Hunter knew he could get out of him if he were alive. Since he’s dealt with this asshole, we’ve taken in over two hundred children.”

“Just from what he knows?” I ask, not sure I heard him right. That’s fucking insane.

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